If you work in healthcare and haven’t read the book “In
Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power
of Hope” I really hope you will.

In the meantime listen to intensivist and best-selling author Dr
Rana Awdish on this week’s episode of Mastering Intensive Care and
you’ll understand why. In her book, Rana brilliantly tells the
real-life story of her near-death experience and subsequent
recovery into which she weaves insightful observations and
reflections on both the good and the bad of the healthcare she
witnessed.

Whilst Rana would have died without the excellence of the team
who managed her sudden medical crisis the seeming lack of humanity
was stark and frequently counterproductive.

At the time Rana was in the final days of her Critical Care
Fellowship in Detroit. Now an intensivist and frequent public
speaker she has ample experience and expertise to assist intensive
care clinicians to improve, the aim of this show.

Rana graduated from Wayne State University School of Medicine in
Detroit, completed Internal Medicine residency in New York, and
then Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellowships at Henry Ford
Health System in Detroit where she now works. She is Assistant
Professor at the Department of Internal Medicine, Director of the
Pulmonary Hypertension program, Senior Staff Physician in the
Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Medical
Director, Care Experience. Amongst many accomplishments she is the
Physician Facilitator for the CLEAR Conversations program, teaches
on communication, bioethics and physician wellness, and has won the
National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year Award at the Schwartz
Center for Compassionate Healthcare.

Apart from beautifully describing how it really felt to be a
patient, Rana also talks about:

The suboptimal communication encounters she remembers

Her gratitude for the skill and grace she received

The benefits of being more engaged and connected with our
patients

Why first impressions matter

The value of curiosity

Using mindfulness to enhance presence

What being cut off from knowledge as a patient felt like

Her experience of asking for working suction in her own
operation

The value of community in unburdening ourselves as health
practitioners

How Schwartz rounds can be helpful

The very first patient she met after recovering from her
illness

Her belief that showing compassion will make you more
efficient

The healing effect of family member presence

The benefits of self-care (and what Rana does herself)

The part spirituality might play in healthcare

Better understanding the use of opiates and pain
management

Going home after a chronic critical illness

How the whole experience has affected how she acts on ward
rounds

Our own healthcare experiences should not be the main driver
towards the compassionate and caring practitioners our patients
need. But as you’ll hear in this episode, they can deliver the sort
of truth and learning we may not otherwise find.

Please enjoy listening to Dr Rana Awdish.

Andrew Davies

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About the Mastering Intensive Care podcast: The podcast is aimed
to inspire and empower you to bring your best self to the intensive
care unit, through conversations with thought-provoking guests. I
hope you’ll glean things to help you improve as a healthcare
professional and as a human being so you can make a truly valuable
contribution to your patient’s lives.